The celibacy debate

by Editor · November 29, 2006

When Pope Benedict convened a meeting of curial top brass to discuss the question of obligatory celibacy in the Latin-rite priesthood, there was no likelihood that this Church discipline would be summarily dispensed with�the world media�s hopeful anticipations to that effect notwithstanding.

Indeed, the meeting reaffirmed the value of clerical celibacy, and emphasised a �need for solid human and Christian formation [for] both seminarians and for those already ordained.� Celibacy is going to remain an obligation for priests in the Latin-rite Church, except for those who joined the Catholic clergy from other denominations and were already married.

However, by calling the extraordinary meeting (ostensibly in response to the calls by excommunicated Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo for the readmission to holy orders of laicised and married priests) Pope Benedict has acknowledged the legitimacy of the debate on celibacy.

It is not the first time the pope has dusted the cobwebs off issues that once were considered by many too controversial for open debate.

Shortly after his election, Pope Benedict licensed a discussion on the situation of divorced and remarried Catholics in relation to the Eucharist. More recently, he asked that the status of condoms in HIV-prevention be studied. As we report this week, the diversity of views the Vatican study has obtained includes some that just five years ago were regarded by many as virtually mutinous.

By engaging in discussion on clerical celibacy, Pope Benedict has affirmed that this is a discipline which is open to change or even rejection, not a deposit of our faith, as many seem to believe it to be.

A change in the discipline of clerical celibacy would presumably require the deliberations and decision of a full Church council, acting on exhaustive debate and study of the theological, pastoral and practical consequences which the creation of married Latin-rite clergy might create.

In short, celibacy need no longer be treated as a taboo subject for free debate. While it must be acknowledged that the discipline is not likely to be modified any time soon, there is no reason for interested Catholics being disinclined to enter into a respectful dialogue on the merits and demerits of clerical celibacy.

Such a dialogue will doubtless reveal�at least to those to whom it is not already obvious�that there are persuasive arguments for both mandatory and optional celibacy.

To some extent, the alternative of a married Catholic priesthood already has models in practice. The Eastern-rite Catholic churches have non-celibate priests (married men may be ordained, but priests may not enter matrimony after ordination), and there are several priests with families who once were clerics in Protestant churches, mostly in the Anglican communion.

The experiences of these priests�as well as those of their parishioners, fellow priests and bishop�require attentive study if we truly seek to understand the practical and pastoral implications of a married Catholic priesthood.

An equitable debate on celibacy, as any fair dialogue, will be undermined by undue trenchancy. It requires a dispassionate mode of argument. Those who engage in it for the good of the Church will know that this debate is one of nuance, which demands patient consideration.

The objective of the celibacy debate must be to examine whether there are ways in which the gift and sacrifice of celibacy might be maintained while still accommodating priests who feel disqualified from receiving that gift and unable to make that sacrifice.